In the latest close session, Macy's (M) was down 1.55% at $24.76. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 1.52%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 2.19%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 1.74%.
Coming into today, shares of the department store operator had gained 6.79% in the past month. In that same time, the Retail-Wholesale sector gained 1.87%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.92%.
The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Macy's in its forthcoming earnings report. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.35, down 14.63% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.81 billion, down 0.09% from the prior-year quarter.
For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.19 per share and revenue of $21.76 billion, which would represent changes of -5.6% and -0.01%, respectively, from the prior year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Macy's. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Our research suggests that these changes in estimates have a direct relationship with upcoming stock price performance. To take advantage of this, we've established the Zacks Rank, an exclusive model that considers these estimated changes and delivers an operational rating system.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 1.36% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. As of now, Macy's holds a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Looking at valuation, Macy's is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 11.47. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 15.35, so one might conclude that Macy's is trading at a discount comparatively.
The Retail - Regional Department Stores industry is part of the Retail-Wholesale sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 56, placing it within the top 23% of over 250 industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Be sure to use Zacks.com to monitor all these stock-influencing metrics, and more, throughout the forthcoming trading sessions.
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Macy's, Inc. (M): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).